Hotel California
by Xena Avenger
Summary: Set in the near future, Buffy wakes up with Angel missing from bed, goes to investigate. Gets more that she expected. Buffy/Angel


Setting: Takes place in the 'future', sometime after both shows. They have been together for a while and are living at the Hyperion.

Spoilers?: Nope

* * *

Buffy opened her eyes.

'_Something's not right_.'

Looking at the clock revealed Angel should have come to bed over an hour ago.

It wasn't unheard of he was too busy to sleep, but he _always_ checked in, if not in person, then with a phone call.

Buffy quickly got out of bed, she was about to shrug on her robe when she realized if something really was wrong, fighting in a robe was just not practical. She dressed as fast as she could, pulled her hair into a ponytail, stuck a stake in the back of her jeans, just in case, and exited the bedroom.

The hotel was quiet, perhaps too quiet?

As she descended the stairs, she searched the vast hotel lobby, not only with her eyes, but with her Slayer senses.

'_Something's defiantly not right._'

The idea floated across her mind again. She sensed something, something that wasn't just her demon lover. The thought was confirmed when a dark shape flew across the lobby, slammed into then threw a column, and collapsed in a heap in the debris.

"Angel!" she yelled when she realized the dark shape was her creature-of-the-night boyfriend.

Her attention was drawn to the creature that caused the commotion. A hulking monolith of muscle and horns lumbered into view. To her, it looked like what the physical representation of anger would look like if it took on solid form. Its dark red skin was stretched over thick cords of muscle, it seemed to flicker as if a flame were dancing beneath the surface. Deathly sharp horns protruded from its gruesome face, its eyes were aglow with feral rage, and turning towards her.

_'Yeah, the stake in my pocket…not thinking that will help much._'

Buffy vaulted off the stairs and rolled towards the weapons cabinet, she pulled open the doors, snapping the lock.

'_Really? Why do we even lock this? When we need a weapon, we usually don't have the time to stand around and fiddle with a lock…_' she thought as she grabbed the nearest battle axe.

She whipped the blade behind her, having sensed the beast looming over her.

'_Damn this thing is fast._'

As she swung, the creature pulled back safely from the blow, further confirming her assessment.

The horned monstrosity swung a clawed hand at her head; she dropped, using her forward momentum to bowl into the demons legs.

It yelped in surprise and crashed to the floor, a second later she popped to her feet. "Strike" she yelled in triumph and swung the axe, fully intending to finish this fight ASAP.

The demon had other ideas, it rolled to avoid the blow, jumping to its feet faster that she thought possible for something its size and weight and was back to the offense. She dodged a few blows, not so much a few more.

She felt claws rip the fabric on her back, just missing the skin. As she wiped the blood from her split lip she narrowed her eyes at the creature.

"Ok, first you hurt my vamp, NOW YOU TEAR MY NEW SHIRT! You are SO dead!"

She gripped the axe tighter and charged, thinking she shouldn't have worn the new shirt to a possible fight to begin with, but deciding blaming the demon was good motive. In all honesty, she was _way_ more concerned about Angel, who hadn't risen yet, than the shirt…but she wasn't going to tell the demon that.

The battle erupted, she kicked, punched, dodged, rolled, flipped, all of it. You name it, she tried it.

This thing was too fast and too strong. It tore the axe from her grip and swung it at her, she pulled back, but it's blunt end managed to gaze her forehead, drawing blood and causing a white light to flood her vision.

She dropped to the floor as the ceiling spun over her, vision narrowing to a tunnel.

'_Good, help me focus on the bad guy_.' She thought dryly.

Snapping back to full consciousness as the creature breathed it fowl breath into her face was not what she was hoping for.

"Yuck, that's disgusting, ever heard of mouthwash?" she asked fighting off the instinct to gag and vomit up everything she'd ever eaten.

The demon roared, sending more of the fowl odor her way.

'_Me and my big mouth_.'

While she was momentarily nauseated by the retched smell, the demon grabbed the insolent girl in a large gnarled hand around her neck and bashed the Slayer against the wall. as she was stunned, the huge hand crushed off her next comeback as it squeezed her windpipe shut.

'_Oh shit._'

She thought as she kicked and hacked with her nails at the vise-like grip.

She felt the pressure in her head triple and knew her face was turning bright red. Her lungs began to ache for air as she struggled; the demon's eyes nearly danced with pleasure because of it.

She cursed repeatedly in her head as she fought, but was soon tiring. Her body loosing strength as it used up the precious little oxygen that was flowing thought it. Her vision began to fade, hearing muffling as if she were underwater. Blackness encroached, lulling her to its death embrace, whispering of sleep and peace.

_'No…Angel…'_ she thought weakly.

The demon screamed.

Buffy suddenly found herself smacking the hard floor, coughing and choking as she greedily sucked in the air her body desperately needed. When her head stopped spinning enough, she looked up to see the demon reaching for a sword lodged in its back, and extremely pissed Angel attacking with another, not giving the creature an opening to pull it out.

Angel fought hard, not only because the demon beat the stuffing out of him earlier and he wanted payback, but because he dared to hurt _Buffy_. Nobody messes with _his_ Slayer and lives.

Angel slashed at the monsters belly, hoping to slice it wide open and spill its guts across the floor. He would worry about Buffy complaining about the mess that would make later.

If he got a later.

Not looking so hot right now.

Angel was suddenly pinned against the wall, his swipe at the belly blocked, his sword, currently sticking out of himself.

'_Ow, how did THAT happen?_'

The demon non-too-gently ripped the sword out of the vampire's gut, and punched the bloodsucker across the room.

Angel landed in a heap.

'S_o_ not_ my day._'

He thought as he tried to stand.

'_This guy is worse than The Beast or Jasmine…combined…well I'm screwed._'

Angel dodged another blow, barely, his injuries slowing him down too much; he didn't dodge the next three.

The vampire slumped to the ground, barely slouching upright and rapidly losing consciousness…again.

The demon held the broken chair leg, ready to end this fight in the permanent way; Angel vaguely remembered the beast breaking said chair over his head a few blurry seconds ago.

Angel looked up defiantly at the demon; one eyed since the other had swollen shut a few punches back.

Seeing what was coming, he grinned.

"Check-outs at 8." Buffy's voice said from behind the demon.

The demon felt the barrel of a shotgun press against its back.

It turned, but not before Buffy pulled the trigger.

An explosion of demon guts followed, less than a second later, a second shot, more guts flew.

The demon swayed a moment, Buffy watched Angel collapse though the hole she fired in the demon's body, then it dropped, making a sickening squishing noise as it did.

Angel lay crumbled where the beast left him, his body loosely resembling ground beef.

Buffy couldn't see an unbruised or uninjured stop on any of his exposed skin.

She knelt beside him, her heart heavy with grief over his broken body. She leaned forward and touched his cheek, as lightly as possible to not cause more damage to the red bruise that was already forming.

"Angel?" she called, wondering if he was conscious or not.

A moment passed, then he stirred, his eyelid fluttered, the one not swollen shut, and then opened.

Her heart felt a pang when she saw how bloodshot the brown eye was.

"Buffy?" he crocked as his eye focused on her. His mind still spinning, a second later he remembered passing out right after she shot the demon. He searched her face, making sure she was ok.

"Yeah, it's me." She said as she leaned closer, making it easier for him to look at her without having to turn his head. "You should have told me you were bringing a guest for breakfast, you know how much I hate uninvited guests." She scolded tiring to lighten the mood.

'_If she's yelling at me, she's ok_.' He reasoned.

To her relief he grinned, it was full of pain and was barely recognizable as such, but she knew he was ok. Well as ok as being nearly beaten to death could be.

"Sorry" he managed to whisper, his struggles to draw in the air necessary for speech complicated by his shattered ribcage sending bolts of pain coursing through him as bits of broken rib ground into his punctured lungs.

"It's ok, I'll let it slide, this time." She replied adding her own grin.

"Are you ok?" she asked after a moment of quick evaluation, a dead serious tone in her voice this time.

He nodded, and then decided that particular motion was not the greatest idea at the moment. "Peachy" he mumbled.

After a second he took her hand, she looked down at it a moment then into his eyes.

"Brought…you something." He said slowly, pain evident in his voice.

"Oh, gifts! I like those. I like them better then they're not covered in your blood first though." She replied, the excitement dulling down at the gravity of the situation.

"Coat…pocket." He muttered.

She pulled his coat aside, grimacing at the blood soaking through his shirt, and then carefully pulled out a small sheathed dagger. It was nothing special; she recognized it as the one he kept in his boot for emergencies.

The only difference she could see today was when she pulled off the sheath the blade was covered in oozing green blood.

"Oh…it's nice… already broken in, comes complete with icky demon blood. How thoughtful of you." She replied sarcastically, wondering if he had a concussion to think she wanted _that_…ick factor nearing max.

He laughed, well more realistically he coughed, but she knew he was going for a laugh.

"Morah blood." He whispered painfully.

Her eyes snapped back to his. "W-what? Really?"

He tried for a grin again, it was better, but she wasn't really paying attention to it, she was focused on the idea she was actually holding the 'cure' to vampirism in her hand.

"Thought…maybe…we could…talk…about it?" he said, her attention was drawn back to him; she noticed it seemed like he was starting to fade out.

She put the knife down beside her and ran her hand along his cheek, "Yeah, yeah I would like that. Let's do that…maybe when you're fully conscious first?" she added with a sad smirk.

"Yeah" he whispered, his eye loosing focus.

Suddenly Angel's arm snapped out as she was thrown back from him.

As soon as she stopped sliding she looked up to yell 'What the Hell!' at him when she realized why he pushed her.

The dead demon wasn't as dead as she had thought, and it had a length of wood teetering over her boyfriend's heart, Angel rapidly loosing the fight with a dislocated shoulder.

Her eyes widened and she looked frantically for a weapon. Thankfully the shotgun was lying beside her, in a second she had it in her hand, she popped the barrel open, loaded in a round that was lying with it, and snapped it shut.

A second later the bang echoed thought the hotel and a newly headless demon's ichors spattered the floor.

Buffy quickly stood and rushed over Angel, who had lost the struggle to keep the demon's corpse from falling on him.

Buffy kicked the demon off then dropped back down beside him.

It was then she noticed the shaft of wood, and it was sticking in Angel's heart.

The demon had pierced him as it fell dead.

Angel gasped as he felt his body reacting to the wood, his advanced age and extreme determination would delay the process, but only by seconds.

"I love you." He managed before he lost the ability to speak.

Buffy would have screamed if she had been able, but her throat was sealed in horror.

Without conscious thought, she pulled the makeshift stake from his chest and slammed the Morah blood dagger in its place.

Angel cried out in pain.

She backed up slightly, pulling the blade out. She couldn't imagine him becoming human with a knife in his heart would help him any.

Angel's body shook, convulsing as both powerful forces fought for dominance.

One power fighting to break down his body into ash; the other fighting to revive it.

She saw a ripple spread over Angel's exposed skin, what she always saw just before a vampire dusted.

Her eyes slammed shut, not only because she didn't want to watch her lover die, but because a bright light filled his body, momentarily blinding her.

Angel screamed.

It felt like hours had passed, but she knew it could only have been a second.

Slowly she opened her eyes, fully expecting to see a pile of dust where her lover had just been lying.

She didn't see what she expected.

Angel laid still and pale where he had been a second before.

A scar branded over his heart where the stake, then the dagger had been plunged.

Hope filled her when she saw he was solid still.

"Angel?" she called as she ran her hand over his cheek.

A cheek that was smooth and free of injury.

His whole body was healed.

Her relief was short, she realized with dread…he wasn't breathing.

'_He's still a vampire?_' she wondered.

Needing to test that theory she quickly grabbed a cross that had been spilled across the floor during the fight and knelt beside him.

"Sorry, I have to check." She said as she lightly touched it to his skin.

Nothing happened.

Her brow furrowed in confusion.

'_What? But if he isn't a vamp…'_ It struck her, '_…then he is human…and human Angel...isn't breathing.'_

She checked his pulse, but found none, then noticed his lips were tinting blue.

She panicked.

As fast as she could she hovered above him and began chest compressions, praying it wasn't too late to restart his heart.

That is if it was even _possible_ to start his heart.

After twenty compressions she leaned down, pinched his nose, tilted his head back and breathed two breaths into his lungs.

She checked his pulse, still nothing, and repeated the steps.

'_This can't be happening, this can't be real._'

Her mind screamed as she worked, desperate to keep him with her.

'_Damn it Angel, Breathe!_'

She finished her compressions then bent to give the breaths, on the second breath, he inhaled.

He began coughing.

She jumped back in shock, and then nearly collapsed in relief as she placed her fingers on his neck and felt an erratic pulse.

_'At least he has one. Sure as hell better that the alternative._'

She pulled him onto her lap and patted his back, hoping it helped him breathe.

After a few minutes of choking and coughing, he began to breathe more steadily, his body getting used to the idea of it, his lips assuming a more healthy shade of pink to the deep blue they held minutes before.

She stayed as close as possible to him, making sure he didn't relapse.

Soon after his heart rate settled down, it began beat a stronger more steady rhythm. She shut her eyes, listening to his breaths, and sent a 'Thank you' to anyone who had been listening to her prayers.

Angel groaned and slowly opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Buffy's worried face looking down at him.

"Angel?" she asked, placing her hand against his cheek.

His eyes focused, but his face remained unreadable, he looked confused.

Worry crept up her spine.

'_What if it was dead too long, what if he suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen. What if he doesn't remember me? What if he's…Angelus?_'

Angel blinked a few times; trying to clear the cobwebs from is mind.

His focus wandered to the headless disaster lying beside him, he reflexively jerked at the sight of it.

"It's dead." She said from above him, him just now realizing his head was laying in her lap, and looking up he noticed she looked borderline terrified.

"Angel?" she asked again as his blank stare, voice full of fear.

He seemed to shake off some of whatever was fogging him and looked up at her.

"I'm here Buffy. Sorry, brains not fully functioning yet." He admitted as he shakily sat up.

She almost pulled him back down out of concern, but instead helped him into a sitting position.

Once he was steady, she threw her arms around his neck and crushed herself against him.

He nearly lost his balance from the sudden assault but held it at the last second.

"I thought I lost you." She confessed into his neck, tears of relief and joy and confusion soaking into his shirt.

After a second he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer.

He sighed, "You did." He admitted.

Immediately she pulled away, "Oh God, don't tell me I pulled you out of Heaven?" she asking in a small voice as she visibly paled, knowing full well how awful that feeling was.

He pulled her back against him, "No, no you didn't. I don't know what it was…but it wasn't Heaven. It couldn't have been…" he said confidently as he rubbed her back.

She pulled back just enough to look at him, "How can you be so sure?" she asked, curious.

He smiled at her, "Because you're here."

A smile slowly spouted across her lips, and rapidly grew like wildfire.

His matched.

"So…you're ok?" she asked.

His lips covering hers answered.

As he had to break away to breathe, he laughed.

She did too.

"Almost perfect." He said to answer her previous question.

"Almost?" she asked confused.

He grinned, "I'll be perfect when I'm not kissing you beside a stinking corpse."

She looked over at the mess and wrinkled her nose. "I agree. Clean up, then back to smoochies?" she asked, eager and excited.

She stood, offering her hand to help him up.

He took it, after a second he got his balance.

"Or we can continue this conversation in the shower?" he offered with a sly grin.

She smirked, "Upper brain might not be fully functional, but the lower one seems just fine." She said mock rolling her eyes.

He made a noise of agreement.

She smiled again and took his hand, his warm hand, leading towards the stairs.

They were halfway up the stairs when she turned to face him, standing on a higher step than him put her roughly eye to eye with the normally foot taller man.

She just looked at him a moment, a small smile pulling at the corners of her lips as she ran her hand against his face.

"What?" he asked with a smirk.

"You're human." She said in wonder as she traced the contours of his defined cheek bones.

His smirk turned into a chuckle, "Just noticing that now?" he asked, snaking his arms around her lower back.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him against her "No, but I just really had to say the words out loud."

His lips hovered over hers, "And?" he asked.

She grinned, "I'm done with words for a while" she finished by hungrily kissing him.

They barely made it to the shower.


End file.
